June 2021 Journal Photos
On June first, Stan Katsura sent the PowerPoint presentation file that he talked from last month, linked here:
Sans Souci Beach
On Tuesday, the first day of June, Andrea and I went for a swim at Sans Souci Beach in the morning.
Some kind of surf camp for keiki was in progress.
Hurricane Preparations
Hurricane season begins on June first. Adele gave us her left over polycarbonate window protection panel materials so I began
making window protection panels, starting with our biggest vulnerability, the front picture window.
The front window to be protected on June 1.
I spliced three pieces together with splice joint material and silicone RTV to make one panel large enough to cover the window.
Wednesday morning, June 3, Andrea took Mom for a drive to Makapu'u while I lifted weights and got blood drawn for a PSA test.
Wednesday afternoon, Andrea held the panel while I drilled holes for the studs.
Installing the wing nuts.
The completed installation.
Simulating a hurricane as a final test.
Friday morning the potted pineapple is almost ripe.
Saturday, June 5, I put up the two-window bathroom panel, then stored it away.
Ta da!
In the afternoon I put up a panel over the middle bedroom middle window.
Mate in two from Facebook, Sunday, June 6.
Shopping at Kahala Mall
Andrea and I went to Kahala Mall to look for hiking shoes on Sunday morning, June 6.
At the entrance. We couldn't find suitable hiking shoes, but I got some new Puma tennis shoes and socks.
We stopped at Whole Foods on the way out and got some groceries.
Volunteering at Keawāwa
Andrea and I again volunteered to water trees and pull weed at Keawāwa in Hawaii Kai on Sunday afternoon, June 6.
There were just the four of us today. The rain catcher was more than half empty.
Andrea took this one from the sidewalk as we walked back to our car.
Sans Souci Beach
Andrea and I went for a swim on Monday morning, June 7.
The sidewalk behind the aquarium was closed temporarily.
Grandmaster George Koltanowski used to write the Sunday chess column for the SF Chronicle. I once played him two games. He won both.
David Herrera was with me at the time, back in the 70s. Image from Facebook.
Olelo Hawaii
Andrea and I attended our first Zoom session Hawaiian language lesson on Tuesday afternoon, June 8.
Zoom screen capture.
Andrea had a couple of tours today at Mission Houses and she bought herself a Hawaiian teddy bear at the gift shop there. Cute!
Andrea's Birthday
We went to the beach and then to brunch at the Hau Tree on Andrea's birthday.
The Kaimana Hotel next to the Sans Souci Apartments.
The sidewalk behind the aquarium is still closed but that didn't stop those people.
At the Hau Tree restaraunt (formerly called the Hau Tree Lanai). Click the image to see the full resolution version.
We ordered eggs Benedict, Andrea's with spinach and mine with lobster. Photo by Andrea.
Our table had a nice view of the beach. Photo by Andrea.
Photo by our waitress. Click the image to see the full resolution version.
Photo by our waitress.
Digging in. Photo by Andrea. Notice the Hawaiian style bonsai on the table. It's a dwarf schefflera on a rock in a wooden bowl.
After dinner that evening we had lilikoi birthday cake with binary candles: six candles, lit or not, for a26 + b25 +
c24 + d23 + e22 + f21 + g20, where a-g can be one or zero.
Thursday morning, June 10, Andrea went for a walk and took this photograph of the stream looking mauka from the Kalanianaole Highway bridge.
Thursday afternoon Andrea's birthday present, a hammock, arrived.
I test the hammock. Photo by Andrea.
Bonsai Ilima
Thursday, June 10, 2021 I pruned an ilima I had planted in a pot as bonsai material. Ilima is a native Hawaiian hibiscus prized for its small orange
flowers used to make head lei for hula dancers. It takes about a thousand ilima flowers to make a lei. I consider it on the difficult end of the bonsai
spectrum as I have already killed about half a dozen ilima transplanted from my yard. This is my first success so far so I will go slow.
The ilima is in a deep pot to accommodate the tap root for now. It's been growing in this pot for about six months now.
All I am going to do today is lightly prune it. After pruning.
I am thinking of planting it in the way oversized round Japanese bonsai pot in a few weeks if it responds well to the pruning. Pau for now.
I made a separate page for my
bonsai ilima.
Kamehameha Day
Kamehameha Day fell on Friday June 12 this year. It fell on Friday, June 11 in 1981, and that's why Andrea and I got married on Saturday the 13th.
It rained 0.15 inches overnignt, and we went to the beach for a swim after breakfast.
After doing my pullups on the arbor bars I took a photo of the beach from the Ewa end. Click the image to see the full resolution version.
The beach from the Leahi (Diamond Head) end. Click the image to see the full resolution version.
Andrea rested in shade in the hammock before lunch.
Black Pine Bonsai
Black pine (pinus thunbergii), a two needle pine, is the national tree of Japan and is highly regarded among bonsaists for both masculine
and feminine bonsai styles. Black pine is almost always shown in an unglazed pot, with the only exception being (rarely) a white glazed pot, according
to John Naka in his seminal Bonsai Techniques.
After growing unconstrained for a year in this concrete pot.
Democratic Party Region One Meeting
Andrea, as Region One Chair, called a meeting for Friday evening, June 11.
Screen capture from the meeting.
Mate in three, from Facebook. Solution (written backward): #+1eQ .3 5cxQ +5cxQ +5cN .2 7cxQ +7cxQ +7cxQ +7cxN .1
40th Wedding Anniversary
Our 40th wedding anniversary fell on Sunday the 13th. We had a Rainbow Bonsai Club meeting in the morning
via Zoom. VP John Arafiles is acting president and I'm still show chair. After lunch I did some bonsai work on a juniper.
Andrea gave me this happy anniversary GIF file via Facebook today.
This Chinese juniper has been in this painted concrete growing pot for at least two years.
I have removed it from the pot to get a better view of the trunk and nebari (rootage). Shown from the other side.
After pruning. Some of the branches have become jin (intentional deadwood). No wiring is required at this time.
After replanting in a larger concrete growing pot. Some roots have been pruned.
We had a 6:45 PM reservation at Roy's in Hawaii Kai and were seated on the lanai.
The sun was still up at 6:53. Photo by Andrea.
Tiki torches after sunset. Photo by Andrea.
There was this nice card on the table for us from the staff.
Chocolate moose for dessert. Photo by Andrea.
Also raspberry sorbet, vanilla ice cream, and Frangelico. Photo by our waitress.
I made a separate page for my
bonsai Juniper.
Flag Day
I put up our flag on Flag Day, Monday, June 14. Then I worked out and ran in the morning, attended the Zoom class on the Victorian period, and worked
on the black pine bonsai after lunch.
Flying the flag.
A few days after pruning and needle pulling, seen from the back.
Front view.
After I applied heavy wire to three branches and the trunk with no crossed wires.
I made a separate page for my
black pine bonsai.
Beach
We continued to go to the beach occasionally.
Tuesday morning, June 15, combing my hair after our swim. Photo by Andrea.
There was a monk seal at the end of the beach by the Natatorium.
Workers were putting up an awning over the hau tree lanai at the Kamaina Hotel.
Here's an instructive
chess game
I played recently.
Thursday morning, June 17, Japanese scuba diving tourists go into the water in the protected area behind the aquarium.
The monk seal was still there. I did 12 pullups and two bar dips, altogether.
Surf lessons in progress. The windsock marks the left side of the channel.
Juneteenth
The newly official holiday was celebrated at our house with a barbecue dinner with Matt and Diane on Friday the 18th, and at Manoa Valley Theater (MVT)
on Saturday the 19th.
We've all been vaccinated!
The fairy lights are on using my backup power unit.
Saturday afternoon we went to MVT for the celebration.
We stopped at the Hawaii Democratic Party table.
Andrea made me a lobster dinner (with oysters Rockefeller, grilled tofu, and bacon wrapped asparagus) that night to begin celebrating Father's Day.
Father's Day
Father's Day this year is on Sunday, June 20. Andrea went to visit Mom and get a hair cut in the morning while I worked on a kamani bonsai.
Kamani Bonsai
Kamani is a Polynesian introduced tree with beautiful medium sized dark green leaves. This one is grown from seed and is about eight years old.
The tree has been in this concrete growing pot for a few years and has grown so tall it is starting to lean over from the wind.
After pruning and defoliating, shown at an upright planting angle.
After wiring and shown with the preferred front.
After removing the tree from the pot, I washed the roots with a hose, which makes it easier to prune the roots.
After root pruning. You can tell they've been pruned before.
I put the tree into a larger but lower profile concrete growing pot. A layer of wet sand is applied to the surface to stabilize the tree and soil.
I made a separate page for my
kamani bonsai.
Father's Day Lunch
Andrea made me a lobster salad for lunch on Father's Day. "Abra Kadabra you're a lobster salad!"
Ready to eat lobster salad. Photo by Andrea.
I got a pole pruner from Andrea.
Father's Day Dinner
Andrea made filet mignon with corn on the cob and boiled potatoes for Father's Day dinner.
We had tomato soup as a first course. Holding my soup spoon in a hammer grip! Photo by Andrea.
The chef prepared everything excellently.
Beach
We continued to go to the beach occasionally.
Monday morning, June 21, we went for a swim at Sans Souci Beach. Coconut trees were being trimmed.
I did 14 pullups and seven bar dips (not all once). In between I took this photo of the Natatorium's caved in deck. I told the
lifeguard (lifeguard offices are housed there now) who had the gate open to load his truck that I used to walk there 40 years ago.
The monk seal that had been at the other end of the Natatorium was gone.
Wednesday morning, June 23, we went for a swim. The Kaimana Hotel was again trimming a hau tree.
Having been pruned quite a bit, this pair of hau trees look almost like bonsai.
We went to the beach Thursday morning too, but I didn't take any photos. A team of four free divers were performing some sort of reef survey.
After we got home, Andrea went to visit Mom in the care home.
Cemetery Pupu Theater
Friday evening, June 25, Andrea and I attended the Cemetery Pupu Theater at the Oahu Cemetery in Nuuanu, put on by the Hawaiian Mission Houses.
It consisted of a circuit of five actor performances at various gravesites in the cemetary, as if a ghost were telling us about his or her life.
The attendees were divided into five groups making the circuit of chairs under canopy stations, so each actor gave his or her performance five
times.
We parked in the cemetery and walked through the graves to the chapel where we signed in and had a box dinner standing up at a table. We could
have sat on one of the benches and risked spilling on our laps.
We walked around a bit looking at gravestones while waiting for the show to begin.
An Egyptian style marker. Photo by Andrea.
We were in the red group of about a dozen and our third performer was Mrs. Dowsett, the wife of an English ship's captain in the 1830s.
Each performance was 20 minutes.
David Malo on the importance of education and writing. Photo by Andrea.
Democratic Party Summer Kickoff Fundraiser
Andrea and I attended as donors the Zoom Democratic Party Summer Kickoff Fundraiser "webinar." Democrats from all over the Pacific (e.g., American
Samoa, Marianas, Guam, etc.) participated.
Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, who was born in Hawaii, was one of the speakers.
Keawāwa Tree Care
Andrea and I again volunteered to water trees and pull weed at Keawāwa in Hawaii Kai on Sunday morning, June 27.
We arrived at the hale. Photo by Andrea.
We left our things in the hale. Photo by Andrea.
A view up the hill from the hale.
I took this one from the sidewalk as we walked back to our car.
Thomas Square
On Monday morning, June 28, I drove to Young Street for my appointment with Dr. Ching, my periodontalist, and arrived early so I took a walk
down Young Street to take a look at the park at Thomas Square.
The entire Thomas Square is surrounded with barricades for the construction underway. Looks like a new roof on some restroom buildings.
A sculpture by the medical imaging building on Victoria Street across from Thomas Square called The Embrace.
Only one bike in the Biki rack on Young Street by the Art Academy.
Sans Souci Beach
Andrea and I went for a swim on Tuesday morning, June 29.
After our swim I went to do my pullups and encountered some city trucks and equipment filling in the sinkhole by the Natatorium.
Looking toward the Aquarium.
The view out to sea.
Getting ready to return home.
Keawāwa Tree Care
Andrea and I helped water trees at Keawāwa on Wednesday morning, June 30.
While waiting for Elizabeth to arrive with the water containers I walked to the back of the property and took a photo looking Ewa.
Eric and Andrea by the back fence.
Email Richard dot J dot Wagner at gmail dot com
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Last updated June 30, 2021 by
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